V. Conclusion

TILA is an extremely powerful tool for borrowers and should be considered every time anyone makes or obtains a loan secured by residential property. At least one court has held that it may be malpractice for an attorney not to review a borrower's rescission rights when representing them in a foreclosure proceeding.

This article just scratches the surface of this area of law. Even though there are classes given to consumer law attorneys on this area of practice, it is my experience that most consumer attorneys do not have the background to understand the loan process when it comes to securing the loan against real property. To put it starkly, most of them look like deer caught in headlights when they leave such a class.

Real property attorneys, however, already have the preliminary expertise. They understand the escrow process, can read and understand a HUD-1 RESPA Settlement Statement, and know and understand the relationship between a note and deed of trust.

While this article will not make you an expert on TILA, it hopefully will allow you to have an informed view of the issue the next time you are consulted on a loan or lenderrelated issue. ﻿